Can you turn the TV off while a DVR recording is in progress?

I had to leave the house today & turned the television off (using the "All On" button) while the DVR was in the process of recording a movie. When I returned, I turned on the TV & I got a pop-up box that indicated that turning off the cable box during a recording would cause me to lose it or at least a portion of it. It said something about leaving the box turned on even if the TV was turned off. However, I was able to watch the entire recorded movie on DVR. I was expecting to have lost it, but it was all there.

I didn't see this covered in the FAQs. Can someone tell me about how this is supposed to work in case this happens to me again?

Re: Can you turn the TV off while a DVR recording is in progress?

There are reports of Scientific Atlanta & Cisco DVR's acting that way. It doesn't happen on Motorola equipment.

Because the power draw on a DVR either turned on or off is less than 3 watts difference, recommendations are to leave the DVR on all the time, since technically it is "on" all the time anyway. It's only the video circuit that gets cut off when a DVR gets turned "off"

It seems that using the all on button causes more issues that it solves.

Re: Can you turn the TV off while a DVR recording is in progress?

So, if I am finished watching television, I should power off the television but not the DVR box? As you know, the DVR box is like the HD box - it has an "on" setting and a "Stand by" setting. As you know, DVR will record teevee shows while in the standby mode. But if I need to turn the teevee off while a recording is in progress again, I will just power off the teevee while leaving the DVR box "on".

Re: Can you turn the TV off while a DVR recording is in progress?

Actually, I think the real issue here is the fact that when you attempt to power off the box while a recording is in progress, the system only gives you 2 options when in reality, it should give you 3. Right now, it just gives the choice of leaving the box on and continue recording or shut the box down and stop recording.

Option 3 should be "power off the box when recording is complete".

Many Comcast people push back and say "well, the box is always on all the time. You should just leave it on". That is an unacceptable answer. That answer assumes you are not using the external power plug on the box to power some other device, like a surround sound system with 5 speakers. In this example, the box stays on all night long and the surround sound system stays on all night long, too.

The correct fix is a firmware fix that allows for proper shut down when recording is complete.

For those who are interested though, I did find a work around for a related, but not identical situation. The other situation is when you see something that is on (or you are watching it and want to go to bed) and desire to record it immediately. If you use the box to highlight the show and select record, you will be in the same situation. The box and any other devices will be on all night long. If it was a program starting minutes before you planned to go to bed, then it would all work because the key issue here is the state of the box at the time of the recording request. If your show starts at 10:30 and it is only 10:15 now, you can schedule it, power down the box and go to sleep with confidence that you will not be running the whole system all night long, as it will shut back down after the recording.

The "work around" for the above situation, assuming you have a computer or iPad in the house, is to use the Xfinity Application. With this application, you can power down the box on the next commercial, log into Xfinity, select the channel you desire, tell it to record it, and it will turn the box on, record it, then turn the box off when finished. In my test, I logged out of Xfinity after placing the record request. Yes...it gives a warning message saying that you should schedule programs at least 30 minutes in advance, but it still basically kicked on the box and started recording within a couple of minutes. One key point though...don't touch anything. In one test, I saw that the volume was off and I used the remote to update the volume status (which worked), but the test failed. The box did not shut off when the programming ended.

Summary #1 - Comast...fix this problem. We need option 3...power down when recording is complete.

Summary #2 - Frustrated users...perhaps the Xfinity remote box connect idea will help you in some of your cases.

Re: Can you turn the TV off while a DVR recording is in progress?

Resurecting an old thread. What irritates me is the old software never did this, so why should the new? I use to be able to turn off the box while recording, while I understand it is in theory on as it is recording, but at least I know it isn't on after recording.

Many issues with the new software. OnDemand speed improved, but many new issues added with this being one of the ones I hate the most. Especially as my Logitech 890 was programed from the old system to shut it off when everything else is off.

Re: Can you turn the TV off while a DVR recording is in progress?

I just switched my cable boxes out to the Cisco receivers. I have the same problem I had with my previous SA receivers with them staying on while recording a program. This started happening with the start of Xfinity. I used to be able to record a program, turn the receiver off while the RED record text on the receiver remained on with no problems. Now, I have to leave the receiver on when recording which also keeps the audio through my external (not intergral TV ones) speakers on.

I have an optical cable from the Cisco receiver to a single external virtual surround sound speaker. When I record something late at night, all of a sudden when the program begins, I get the audio from that program coming through my speakers. I have to mute it or put the volume all the way down so I'm not kept awake. This is completely ridiculous that I have to do this. It was not this way before Xfinity. Especially where I have weekly programs that are series and all of a sudden the audio comes on and scares the heck out us b/c the TV is off and wasn't expecting it. I mean come on, how dificult is this to fix?!! I've done quite a bit of programming in my life and this doesn't seem to be a difficult fix, unless its a hardware issue which in my opinion, can still be worked around.